Spying on Indonesia: To avoid retaliation, the PM must apologise

When the opposition began peppering the Prime Minister during question time on Monday, the one subject it did not raise was the hottest subject of the day, one causing embarrassment to the government. Instead of mentioning the revelation that Australia had tapped the phones of Indonesia's President, his wife, and eight senior Indonesian politicians, the opposition asked about the automotive industry, human rights in Sri Lanka and child care.

Don't mention the war. Neither side did so because the government had to deal with a delicate problem and the previous Labor government had created it. Both sides knew that Australia's security service has been spying on Indonesia for decades. More than a hundred Australians have been murdered in terrorist bombings in Indonesia and Australia's offshore counter-terrorism efforts begin in Indonesia. The security agencies of both nations have exchanged useful intelligence.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott: "The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters." Photo: Andrew Meares

Unsurprisingly, it was the Greens who sought to make political capital out of the revelation. The Greens have a long history of roiling the relationship between Australia and Indonesia. Greens' MP Adam Bandt asked the Prime Minister about reports Australia had tapped the phone of the Indonesian President. ''Is this true? Is Australia still doing it? And do you support it?''

Tony Abbott's response did not mollify the Indonesians: ''The Australian government never comments on specific intelligence matters … I should also say that the Australian government uses all the resources at its disposal, including information, to help our friends and our allies, not to harm them. My first duty is to protect Australia and to advance our national interests … Consistent with that duty, I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close co-operation that we have with Indonesia, which is, all in all, our most important relationship, a relationship I am determined to foster''.

Abbott could have said that the phone tapping in question took place in 2009, under the government of Kevin Rudd, but he did not.

In Jakarta, the comments about fostering a strong relationship did little to offset a perceived insult. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono used Twitter to send a furious public response: ''I also regret the statement of Australian Prime Minister that belittled this tapping matter on Indonesia, without any remorse … These US & Australian actions have certainly damaged the strategic partnerships with Indonesia … We will also review a number of our bilateral co-operation agenda as a consequence of this hurtful action by Australia.''

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His choice of words reflected the highly sensitive issue that his wife, Kristiani Herawati, was among the phone-tapping targets of the Defence Signals Directorate. Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Dr Marty Natalegawa, even mocked the Prime Minister's response: ''I have news for you. We don't do it. We certainly should not be doing it among friends … It violates every single decent and legal instrument I can think of''. It did not help that Bob Carr weighed in, describing the revelations as ''nothing short of catastrophic''. That's rich coming from the former foreign affairs minister of the government responsible for the phone tapping.

Clearly smarting from the rebuffs, on Tuesday, in a statement to Parliament, Abbott attempted to staunch the damage caused by Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower at the US National Security Agency whose leaks were published by The Guardian Australia and the ABC. He said he ''sincerely regrets'' any embarrassment the media reports have caused. But he stopped short of expressing regret for the actual spying: ''Every government gathers information, and every government knows that every other government gathers information … Australia should not be expected to apologise for the steps we take to protect our country now or in the past.''

This is not going to be enough. President Yudhoyono will be affronted that Australia felt the need to be ''protected'' from anything he, or his wife, might have done. Indonesia wanted a sense of contrition to save face, and did not get it. Given the fraught dealings the new Abbott government has had with Indonesia over Indonesian people-smuggling operations, the Prime Minister will have to try again. He will have to apologise.

President Obama has apologised to allies for other spying revelations by Snowden. The Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, has called for Abbott to apologise and reset the terms of the relationship, while also recognising that this problem requires bipartisanship. We agree. If Mr Abbott does not exhibit the ''remorse'' the Indonesian President expects, the damage from this leak will cascade into retaliation from the country with which, to quote Abbott, we have our most important relationship.